Design Wall Monday

I didn't get a lot done this week but I did knock out another one of these quilts. Tamara gave me a pack of fat quarters that was almost enough fabric to make this. I added a few pieces from my scrap stash and the background.

Design Wall Monday

Nothing really new today. Pictured is a quilt I finished last week at the quilt retreat. I got the idea from a post on someone else's blog but I can't remember who or where. If anyone knows the name of this pattern, please post a comment. I would like to give credit where it's due. In the mean time, I liked this pattern so much I started another. It's a great way to use scraps.

Design Wall Monday

Actually, it's the design floor. This quilt is too big for the design wall. The pattern I was using as my inspiration is called Michigan Crossroads. It's from Quiltmaker (J/F '10). The pattern calls for no sashing but I wasn't happy with the way it was turning out. I was also getting tired of making the blocks, so I drew out an alternative. I tried light and dark sashing and light improved things. It also meant that I could make fewer blocks and still have a twin size quilt. Sorry for the dark picture. It's hard to get a good photo in my living room at night. That's my dog Boo's face in the upper right corner. My other dog Roxy is afraid of the camera and leaves the room whenever I take it out.

I'm going on a quilting retreat in two weeks so I'll be cutting up projects to work on and quilting others for show and tell. I'm planning 6 projects, one of which I hope to have completed by the end of the week. The others are ongoing projects.

Design Wall Monday

I spent the afternoon sewing these blocks together. I think I'll do a small black border and a larger green print border. This put a small dent in my scraps.

Design Wall Monday

More Michigan Crossroads blocks this week. This is not my usual style, everything but the kitchen sink, but I'm trying to reduce the amount of scraps I have. This pattern uses 3 1/2" strips and 2" strips. It has put a small dent in my scraps stash. I can get the 3 1/2" strip drawer shut now. I'm going to have to make a few more quilts that use 2" strips before that one will close.

Design Wall Monday

I can't seem to focus on any one project so I worked on several over the weekend. The upper left is a rail fence based on a photo Mary Johnson posted on her blog. I couldn't find instructions so I worked it out myself. The upper right is a pattern from Quiltmaker (J/F '10) called Michigan Crossroads, although I changed around the position of the light and dark squares. The bottom row, left to right, is Old Kentucky Album from Bonnie Hunter's Addicted to Scraps column in Quiltmaker, Pennsylvania Scrapple from Quiltmaker (S/O '01), my last Minnesota Star and Twist and Twirl from Quiltmaker (M/J '09).

Design Wall Monday

I worked on the Minnesota Stars this weekend. I laid them out on the floor but I forgot to take a picture. I had to pick them up when the dogs came back from being washed. So here is a sample block from a pattern called Old Kentucky Album. It was featured in Bonnie Hunter's "Addicted to Scraps" column in Quiltmaker's January/February 2010 issue.
Her instructions call for using all 2" strips and trimming the block down but that leaves bias edges around the outside. I might calculate the size triangles I would need before I make any more blocks to avoid that.